Erode East bypolls: Tamil Nadu BJP writes to EC over "blatant abuse of power" by DMK govt

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 14 : Ahead of the Erode East bypolls, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Annamalai on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner of India against "blatant abuse of power" by the ruling DMK government in the state and sought for ensuring a free and fair election in the assembly constituency.
After the sudden demise of the Member of the Legislative Assembly from Erode East, the Election commission announced the date for the by-election for this constituency. The DMK government in power, Annamalai said has no developmental works to their name despite being in office for the last 22 months and has pinned its hope on money to win this by-election.
"On January 29, 2023, we released an audio clip of DMK Minister KN Nehru and the candidate of DMK Alliance, EVKS Elangovan, discussing the money distribution, the modalities, the distribution centre and the deadline to get money distributed. Detailing the audio, senior leaders of BJP Tamil Nadu had submitted our apprehensions about the conduct of free and fair elections to the State Election Commissioner and requested immediate action against the DMK members for killing the spirit of democracy," the Tamil Nadu BJP chief wrote.
On February 11, he said Election officials and police personnel seized tokens from the car of DMK South Union Treasurer Sarbudeen in Tirupur district after they got info about the distribution of money in Erode East.
Annamalai said the State Election Commission is yet to take action against the complaint submitted by Tamil Nadu BJP and has done nothing significant to stop the ruling DMK government from the "blatant abuse of power".
"Sir, we humbly submit for immediate action to ensure a free and fair election in Erode East," he urged.
Earlier in January, Election Commission announced a byelection to the Erode East constituency in Tamil Nadu on February 27. The counting of votes will be done on March 2.
The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of the Congress MLA Thirumagan, the great-grandson of social reformer 'Periyar' E V Ramasamy and son of former Union minister E V K S Elangovan.
BJP officially announced its support to the candidate of the Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) faction of the AIADMK in the upcoming Erode East bypoll.
EPS faction of the AIADMK has fielded KS Thennarasu as its candidate for the seat.
BJP state president K Annamalai issued a letter of support for the candidature of KS Thennarasu.
This followed the withdrawal of the candidature of the O Panneerselvam (OPS) candidate T Senthilmurugan.
The Congress has declared former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief EVKS Elangovan as the party's candidate for the February 27 bypolls to the Erode (East) assembly constituency.